Fill Our Void
by Archer' Grimm
Summary: The 2nd Battle of Jachin Due ended differently. CE 73, The world is being framed by the desires of a person who wishes to manipulate the world behind the facade of righteousness. Even if what he is doing is questionable, who are we to deem it such?
1. Final Rehearsal

Disclaimer: This story is completely fictional and copyrighted by uh…Bandai and Sunrise, not me…darn

* * *

After the destruction of GENESIS, with Earth Alliance Forces suffering heavy casualties, and the moderate faction of the PLANTs Supreme Council taking over the government, both sides took heed to a cease-fire declaration, concluding the Second Battle of Jachin Due. Alliance forces retreated from the battle sector. Because of Freedom's unresponsive transponder that prevents pinpointing of its location and an unfruitful search by MBF-02 Strike Rouge around the massive cannon sector, Archangel, Kusanagi, and Eternal reluctantly left. 

In terms of biological casualties, EAF would fill the top spot, and in military infrastructure, PLANTs, because of the loss of GENESIS and Jachin Due defense satellite. All in all, every side of that crossfire suffered heavily, either materially, economically, or even emotionally. Eternal was deprived of both its only mobile suits units, ZGMF-X09A and ZGMF-X10A, as well a METEOR weapons platform system. But this seemed to be nothing compared to the pain of a certain someone.

Nevertheless, if the words of Rau le Creuset, who mentioned about the 'dream' of mankind and expressed his hateful awe towards it, are true, then ZAFT could be considered the real victor after the discovery of a severely oxygen-deprived pilot and a still functioning nuclear-powered mobile suit by a drifting Nazca-class destroyer during its scan of the explosion site and its subsequent recovery many hours before the Rouge entered the area. However, due to the hectic situation following the war, the findings were initially ignored until an up-and-coming law graduate and prominent geneticist Gilbert Durandal received wind of it and pursued means to keep it under wraps, and under the radar of then-Provisional Council Chairman Eileen Canaver, who was a strong supporter of disarmament as outlined by the Treaty of Junius Seven on March 10, CE 72.

Shortly after the signing of Junius Treaty, when Durandal assumed the post of PLANT Supreme Council Chairman on June 1, CE 72, he initiated FAITH (Fast Acting Integrated Tactical Headquarters) as a means of bureaucracy-free, elite homeland defense group, reporting directly to him. The group is made up of officers and soldiers with outstanding service records. However, that is only a cover, a disguise the Chairman elaborately executed to conceal the true purpose of FAITH which is carrying out clandestine operations, especially trading and negotiations of sensitive materials, with other factions. The number of real FAITH members, which is a mere four, is multiple times smaller than those ZAFT personnel Durandal publicly decorated.

Due to its already covert status, a minor extent of mental conditioning, similar to EAF's human enhancement 'Extended' program, is performed on the real members to accentuate their abilities on the field. Even at minor conditioning compared to the extent used by the Alliance, the result was rather astounding as the subject Coordinators were strengthened more levels than their Natural counterparts. However, a short withdrawal symptom, which takes place averagely 18 hours after the conditioning, is unavoidable as the muscles and nerves revert to normal conditions. Despite the symptoms being virtually non-permanent simply due to the minor levels utilized, subjects have to endure through the after-symptoms largely by themselves instead of receiving more conditioning. This is done to avoid addiction. However, in case of a serious-case scenario of near death withdrawal, an experimental reversal procedure will be performed.

Furthermore, if an operative were to kick into a drawback state during a mission, a derivative of the performance-enhancing drug Gamma Glipheptin, the more stable Phi Pehpilgtin which also doubles a pain killer, can be injected to delay any distractions to the senses and muscle ability. Though tested more reliable than its predecessor, Phi Pehpligtin, short-hand 'PP', deals more severe after-effects on Coordinators than on Naturals simply because of the PLANT-dwellers' more advanced immunity.

Most assume that major events outline history, but it is the small details that shape the major happenings. Mankind, just like any of the human races, is defined by progress, but conflict is necessary for progress, for with contentment comes silence. Therefore, power is necessary because conflict will never disappear. Someone, if must, have to fill the position of the villain for the betterment of man, directing the behind-the-scene stage hands for the opening night play.

* * *

Final Rehearsal

* * *

Silenced weapons are the preferred armament of use for low-profile violence. Secret agent movies such as 007 proved that, though on exaggerated Hollywood level. Nevertheless, through the use of silencers, pedestrian outside the Teran Hotel in Savannah, Georgia of Atlantic Federation, is still largely ignorant of the situation inside after the hotel's power generators went down. In truth, blood spillage of April 13, C.E 73 is commencing starting on the middle level, floor 15, of the hotel by two FAITH agents after a not-so-smooth information trading with the largest arms-dealer of the USA region. 

"It's fortunate that you had hacked into the generators" whispered a voice in the dimly-lit area. "The greed of that leader is as obvious as the size of his waist. It's surprising that he is smart enough to see our intel being utterly nonsense"

"We are used to this, and we have achieved our objective: getting _their_ communication methods" replied another.

"If that fatso escapes, he will tell _them_. If so, then this intel is as good as nothing. We need to waste him before then. Thermal, ready?"

Consecutive gun muzzle flashes granted a glimpse of two individuals: one with gray hair armed with two laser-sighted Desert Eagle Mk 34Silenced handguns and another with brown hair armed with just one. Both were about 170 cm in height, and were wearing black suit and infrared vision enabled spectacles. With every shot as they rushed though several corridors, bodies fell with a fatal hole to the head or neck. However, engaging an arms-dealer group in a firefight is never going to be smooth endeavor for 2 minutes into their mop, three Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-7-32 anti-aircraft gatling guns laid an ambush along the 10-meters-in-width main corridor of floor 30, just one more level before the helicopter landing pad, and effectively sealing the stairs and elevators leading to the pad.

The hail of bullets chipped the concrete walls and ripped through the curtains and windows facing South, shattering glass onto the sidewalk and causing pedestrians to panic as some were severely mutilated by the raining silica-sand compound. Worse, the deafening barrage alerted the surroundings within at least 300 meters radius. However, with some of the covering fabric gone, the moon light better illuminated the interior of the building and the two individuals.

"We are attracting too much attention" said the pleasant-looking gray-haired youth as he stopped behind the brown-hair before the treacherous corridor. "Hey-"

"It grazed me" he replied, covering a bullet wound halfway across his abdomen and slumping down against the wall behind him while holstering his gun back into his coat.

"Where's your PP?"

He took out an injector-syringe pack from the pocket under his coat and found it holed by the same bullet that wheezed through the top of his stomach skin's subcutaneous layer. They couldn't share the injection either because each dose has been specifically prepared for each one of them. Doing otherwise would result in dire consequences.

With his left hand covering the wound and his right feeling a ring-like object beneath his shirt, he took deep breaths, swallowed the pain and said "Nevermind. That incoming rotor sound…we have no time. Cover me, Heval"

"Wait, Kira. Urg-" he groaned due to the twitching pain in his arm, prompting him administer his own drug.

Right before relieving himself though, Heval flung a flash grenade into the corridor in an attempt to blind the operators of the gatling guns as Kira dashed across and attracted the suppressing fire. The action seemed to accomplish its intended purpose for a second after detonation, the aim of fire became disoriented and then halts. The wounded FAITH agent sprung back around the corner and sprinted towards the batteries. At the fifth step, he fired, silencing the leftmost operator of the gatling, and then at the seventh step, the middle operator. The last one, however, he failed to nail for the chamber of his gun is empty. When the last operator recovered, Kira is still too far to enter close combat. As the gun barrels start spinning, he kicked through the door of room '3015', and walked in on an almost naked couple cowering at the corner of the suite. Nevertheless, the operator had forgotten about Heval's presence and paid for it dearly when two .38 caliber APS (Armor Piercing Silent-type) shell blasted into his right cornea one after another with pinpoint accuracy.

With the successful neutralization of the hurdle, Kira, applying a patch over his bleeding wound, led the way through the steel rooftop door into the night breeze of the building's highest level. Due to the increased lighting, they deactivated the thermal vision on their glasses' lens. Towards the end of a set of metal stairs leading to the helicopter landing platform, the leader of the arms-dealer finally came into view. Both FAITHs initially assumed he was alone but when a glinting blade swung horizontally at Kira's neck, they realized they are the ones outnumbered 3 to 1 by katana armed men.

"Wrong choice of weapon, guys" Heval taunted, his voice very vicious.

The answer to his comment was two slashes by different blades from rear, attempting to slice him into three. However, with the heightened senses of conditioning, he swiftly ejected his weapons' magazines, which had a pink-haired person's sticker on them. Therefore, if the final bullet was to be fired, the absence of a reloading bullet will cause the slide of the guns to snap back, opening the area where used shells are ejected. At the same time as he trapped the blades into the opening, two bullets drilled through the flesh his assailants. Feeling the release of the swords' pressure due to the death of their owners whose corpses rolled down the stairs, Heval passed the katanas towards his partner evading slashes on the platform.

Kira caught them and used one to block a power swing to his left. Then, he stuck the other one deep through the vertebrae of another opponent directly ahead before twisting it to ensure the separation of the nervous system. With the fall of half of their numbers in less than five seconds, the one at the bottom of the stairs and two on the platform hesitated in their follow up.

"You call yourselves the best? What did I pay you for?!" shouted the oversized leader as a ladder rope was dropped from his escape helicopter.

Since the element of surprise is gone, the advantage now shifted to the two youths. After recovering the magazines and reloading his weapons, Heval began by turning tail up the stairs, making the swordsman chase after him. Kira did the same thing by running towards Heval. The latter aimed his guns at his partner and squeezed the triggers. Kira leaped over him and wielded his sword down onto Heval's pursuer, cutting along the sagittal plane and causing crimson liquid to spray all over. The two bullets that looked intended for the brown-hair struck the groin of one swordsman and trachea of the other. As the shots were not fatal, Heval and Kira approached the one crying in pain and the one croaking for air respectively. The gunner knelt down and planted the tip of his weapon on the bloodied genital area and delivered three consecutive shots. On the other hand, the blade-user slid one of his swords slowly down the open throat wound and into the heart. If seen in a certain angle, both of their eyes seemed to gleam as if in pleasure.

Hanging by the ladder rope, the oversized leader was rejoicing because of his successful escape. Of course, he laughed too soon for Heval threw a time-fused grenade baseball-style to Kira who used his flat side of his remaining sword like a bat and whacked the greenish-black ball of explosives flying into the open, laughing mouth of the soon-to-be-dead, plus-size man.

With their mission rarely ending so brightly, Heval grabbed the staggering Kira before launching a wire anchor from a mechanism hidden in his right wrist to the building and swung over to it, crashing through a thin plate of glass in the process. Kira drew a PDA from the back pocket of his black pants as soon as they are safely inside, and entered the code 'BYEBYE' to which the Teran Hotel imploded upon itself, killing all its occupants and a fraction of the law enforcement on ground, but more importantly, eliminating any evidence that the two were ever there.

* * *

'FAITH encrypted access code 214425FRE' displayed a notebook screen which is specially and directly connected to one of ZAFT's orbital satellites, 'retinal identification verified. Kira Hibiki…Establishing communication…" 

After a few minutes, the security interface gave way to a two-way video-cam window. On the other side is none other than the PLANT's Supreme Council Chairman.

"I was worried. You didn't make contact for 48 hours" Gilbert said first.

"Forgive me, sir. The transaction ended longer than expected" Kira replied.

"Are you alright? And Vijand?"

"Yes. We are fine. Heval's drawback had just ceased. He is resting now"

"I'm glad. I take it you are in the base hospital right now?"

"We arrived 10 hours ago. Diocvia is not a high profile base like Gibraltar. We will less likely be discovered here. When Heval recovers, we will proceed with the next step of the mission plan"

"This is the most dangerous part. You need extremely cautious. Our offer may seem viable, but the material we are asking for could be very sensitive to LOGOS's welfare"

"Thank you for the concern, sir"

"You don't have to be formal with me, Kira, especially when we are talking one-on-one like this. Remember, we are family."

"Thank you, uncle" the younger said with a lightened tone.

"No, I should be the one thanking you" replied the older before cutting off communication.

He closed the notebook and rested it on the bedside table before taking out the intravenous needle connected to his left arm. Silencing his steps so as not to disturb Heval, he exited the dimly-lit, sound-insulated room into another dimly-lit corridor. Actually, a whole block of the hospital wing had been cordoned off for them so as to avoid anyone, not even a doctor, hearing or coming into close contact with the after-effects of both youths' conditioning. Since the four agents had been thoroughly trained in medical operations, even the closing of Kira's abdominal wound was done personally, just like how the other three would have done it.

Wearing a standard issue military undershirt and the same black pants, he entered into a lighted public area where the music 'In This Quiet Night' is playing and other people could finally be seen. Because he and Heval do not sport any of the ZAFT color coats and only display their FAITH badge when necessary, they can easily pass off as civilian and that stance is essential to protecting their identity. Walking out onto a balcony of the fifth floor, the first thing that caught his sight was the full moon above the converging horizon of the dark sky and the Black Sea. Responding to the rather familiar view, his right hand raised to the ring-shaped object on his chest behind the shirt. Somehow, to unknown reasons, whenever he touches it, a warm, protective feeling envelops him, granting him strength and support, just like during the incident in Savannah.

However, that wasn't the only thing that suggested him those feelings. There's one other, more massive one that follows him around. However, since it infringes upon one provision of the Junius Treaty, which is the prohibition of a nuclear engine on a mobile weapon, he had never used it on the field. Even a training run carried out back in Maius made him uncomfortable piloting it. But, the funny thing is, just looking at it and being in it gives an entirely contrary effect than piloting it. _Will alone…strength alone… _Despite his reluctance to use it, his uncle insisted on it being delivered whenever he goes as protection if necessary. He followed along with that until this most recent mission where he just left it in the base.

Nonetheless, the Chairman's action brought out a question in his mind. Why was he assigned the mobile suit when he cannot utilize it? Gilbert's words saying that he is one of the best pilots of the Bloody Valentine's War doesn't match up with his inability in this matter.

Even the secrecy concerning him, Heval Vijand, and two others he had never met seemed to add to the overall mystery. In fact, most of the information concerning the other three was classified. It wasn't until he was assigned with Heval that he came to know him personally as an amiable, funny person, and also an avid admirer of Lacus Clyne's songs. His tendency to joke seemed to have a creative impact upon his actions during missions. It was rather evident in Savannah when he suggested a baseball game.

Heval's recounts of his past struck Kira as being, to some extent, rather similar to his own. He was orphaned in the war. A ZAFT soldier found him. He enlisted in ZAFT as a test pilot. And now, at the age of 18, he is picked by Durandal to FAITH.

After hearing Heval's words, he felt envious at his partner's remembering his life. He, on the other hand, knew his past only through someone else's words. After waking up in a Junius City hospital, all was blank, his name, his memory. The first person that visited him was Gilbert, who introduced himself as a sibling to his father. Through subsequent visits until Kira's recovery, the geneticist filled him in about his history: a student in Copernicus City, then an orphan after a Blue Cosmos terrorist attack, then a ZAFT enlistee, until the Second Battle of Jachin Due where he lost his memories due to extended periods of oxygen-deprivation.

The only possession on him when he regained consciousness was explained to be a momento from his mother, but it didn't feel that way. The more he pondered, the more conflicting facts surface; the more questions arise; the more emptiness chip away at whatever he believed. However, due to Gilbert's caring and responsible attitude, he decided to trust him as being truthful about his life before FAITH, which is orphan-turned-ZAFT special ops.

Before noticing it, he had wandered onto the front of the hangar where a large container about the height of 12 meters and length of 20 meters containing his suit lay on top of a trailer. Chuckling his absent-minded action off, he turned around only to notice a non-military individual in a distance next to a series of hangars. The figure was loitering around while holding a piece of paper and lugging some sort of luggage. Observing the lax security of the small undermanned base, he grew suspicious and began approaching the figure until he noticed a swerving military jeep speeding along the length of a hangar while the person is walking down the width of it. The drunken driver, who could somehow still drive almost straight, and the person couldn't see each other. So, if left alone, an accident would most likely happen at the corner of the hangar. Kira began running despite risking opening his wound.

The moment the person stepped past the corner, her eyes widened at the incoming headlights before shutting them back and letting out a scream. Kira shared his kinetic energy as both cleared the path of collision. So as not to hurt the person, he switched their position so he is the one taking the brunt of the fall. His subsequent reaction time slowed because of the feeling of a rip in his stomach.

"Th, thank you" she said, with blushing face, still on him.

Getting a good look at the person, he discerned her long, grayish-black hair, and the freckles on her cheeks. As for her outfit, she donned a pair of jeans and stripped shirt beneath and an orange vest. Other than her pleasant voice, she looked rather ordinary.

Kira simply nodded due to the pain of his wound partly reopening. Kira's motion snapped her back to reality as she flustered to get up. He then followed suit and said, "You are not in the military. What are you doing here?"

"I was told to wait in the main lounge, but no one came and this clearance paper said that my flight should have departed a few minutes ago. So I came out on my own…I'm lost"

"May I see that?" he said, taking a look at the mentioned clearance which bears her name, Meer Campbell; the destination of Gibraltar; the plane, Ravenwind; and Durandal's personal initials at the bottom of the paper. "Your flight was delayed in Carpentaria for a few hours because of weather. Please follow me"

He led her towards the entrance door of the runway control tower, which is a short walk away, and advised her to stay inside until the flight arrives. All these while, Kira didn't realize she was eyeing him intently until she noticed a red patch on his shirt.

"Your stomach…"

"It's nothing…please, wait inside. I have to go" he said, keeping a straight face so as not to appear injured, before commandeering a passing jeep and left.

"Wait, may I know your name?" she asked but he was already out of earshot.

* * *

A/N: This is my attempt at making Kira/Lacus relationship more chaotic than in GSD (Muahahaha…choke…) and one or two OCs more powerful than the SEEDs. Kinda ambitious, eh? How is it? 


	2. Curtains Up

A book can never be judged by its cover. This saying is often times true, especially when that someone or something is excessively peculiar. Betrayal is not something most would gladly endure. When trust is broken, it is not easily mended either.

* * *

Curtains Up

* * *

"Damnoen Saduak floating market…It's typical for those sort of people to set the meeting in one of Thailand's crowded places. I feel really vulnerable without my guns" Heval whispered into a micro-transmitter hidden underneath his casual attire of a flowery collared shirt and khaki cargo pants.

"You don't think Djibril himself will come here, do you?" asked Kira, who is situated a distance away from his partner, while keeping close watch of Heval's surroundings through the scope of his VSSK Vychlop Ver.137 silenced sniper rifle.

"I'm more inclined to just his henchmen being here. That lipstick wearing homo would not risk himself down here. Damn, it's hot" he began shaking his shirt to allow air to flow through.

"That shirt is more suited for Hawaii. You are sticking out like a sore thumb" Kira observed.

"Really? Well, it's better, right? They can notice me better" he cheerfully said, glancing briefly to a window of a housing building nearby, where a non-reflective scope is aiming at him.

The reason Kira is only backing up Heval is because of an earlier experience, their first mission together. The other trading party is an anti-Coordinator group, so to fulfill their sadistic resentment and to test the two's sincerity, they had placed a requirement for the closing of the deal: only one of the two must remain breathing. The two had not known each other yet at the time, and their mindset was to accomplish a mission no matter the cost, so they gladly went at each other. However, when the duel ended outside the night-club, with both being exhausted and after numerous gun bursts and some grenade explosions, their client lay dead, struck by the stray bullets and explosive the youth flung around. As the club collapsed, they looked at the building and then back to each other, before attempting to suppress a chuckle. Patrol car sirens prompted them to leave the area. Although they failed that mission, the two earned each other's trust and respect. With that said, since the current assignment involves LOGOS, it would be better for only one person doing the negotiations just in case a repeat of the earlier instance happens. Heval is the better speaker of the two, while Kira is more proficient in sniping than Heval is, so it all works out.

Then, after a few minutes of wandering around, a long blond haired man wearing sunglasses, sporting a diagonal scar over his nose and donning a tourist-like get-up walked up to Heval and picked off the earpiece in Heval's earcanal, preventing Kira's transmission from getting to him. However, the transmitter was left unchecked.

"No weapon, good. It seems you are not an amateur, but you are not an expert either. Follow me" the man said. "You are lucky. The lord is interested in your proposal. If not, you, and your associate would be dead right now"

"What happens now?" Heval calmly asked, noticing that the man used the singular form of the word 'associate' indicating that Kira may have been spotted.

"Oi, oi…slow down. I'm hungry. Let's grab something to eat first. Come on, I'll pay" the man said as he stopped next to a boat selling some fried tidbits such as spring rolls and fried tofu.

He then ordered two bags of the mixed food before saying, "eat up. You'll need the strength. We are leaving for Honiara"

With the last word of the sentence spoken, the blond stole a glance directly at Kira's position. They looked straight at one another before the older man returned his attention to Heval. The sniper and the man each felt a tinge during that split-second eye contact.

Heval, for the few times in his life, became extremely cautious at the person. The older man acted and looked carefree as if they were just on a friendly trip. The younger remained silent as he took the bag and bit a peculiar chili-shaped fruit out of obligation. But the moment he did so, his mouth burned like an inferno. Though he did not express it vocally, his reddening face showed that the chili was very hot.

"No, no, no… you are supposed to eat that with this. Like this" the man said while stuffing the chili inside a tofu before eating it. "Right, no more joking around. Let's go"

Kira packed his gear and dissembled his rifle when the other two are leaving the marketplace. At the same time as he exited the room he had occupied, however, a couple of men started walking in his direction. He kept a casual expression and took out his PDA/PSP and began playing Ace Combat: Skies of Deception with the volume cranked as high as possible. They walked past each other in the corridor but right after a few steps, one of the men stopped him. His right hand readied to grab a combat knife on his waist under his Thai-style shirt.

"Hey, kid. Did you notice any strange individuals nearby?" asked the man.

"No"

"Anyone with a strange bag or some sort of gadgets?" another asked before noticing the very things he inquired being carried by Kira. "Wait-"

The man wasn't given a chance to finish his sentence when a blade came brandishing itself past his throat and opened the passage to his lungs directly to the outside atmosphere, thereby equalizing the pressures and preventing him from breathing. The other scrambled for his gun but received nothing but a skewer to the neck. He slipped out of existence staring at a pair of violet eyes.

With the disturbance gone, he entered a command on the PDA and a map replaced the game window. With a red spot blinking on the map signaling Heval's position, he began tailing a SUV in which the blond man and his partner is currently riding. He discovered the plane name and number for their flight for Guadalcanal of the Solomon Islands through their conversation. It was a clever plan, for only one airfield, the Henderson, is on the whole island. Escape will not be easy. However, since this mission is of the utmost importance, the other two FAITHs, codename Fleur and Aurig, will be providing support as well as securing an exit route based on their agreed plan.

* * *

Sometimes life can be so busy that one forgets the small things that seem trivial. But it might be actually important in the heart and important to others who care about that someone. However, the showing of that concern is frequently difficult. Nevertheless, after contemplating various courses of action for May 18, CE 73, he made up his mind.

A family-type sedan pulled up into the driveway of Boshoku Restaurant, one of Orb's newly established seaside ambient restaurants. A navy-colored man dressed in a black suit walked up to the vehicle and opened the rear left door for a lady in a light-green dress.

"Good evening, my lady. How was thy journey?" he asked, offering his hand.

"…T.e.r.r.i.b.l.e. And it's all your fault. Why do you have to insist of me wearing this thing?" she replied with a hint of discomfort as she shifted her foot around her high heel shoes the moment she alighted from the car.

"I truly apologize. On the bright side, this building's serenity would most definitely lift thy mood. I'm aware thou are concerned by heaving places, correct?"

"Yeah, yeah…Why are you talking funny?" she touched his forehead to check his temperature. "Are you sick?"

"Err…I speak funny? Strange, I don't feel like it. You must be imagining things. Haha…ha..hahaha" he tried to laugh it off.

"Are you sure? Well then. Let's go in. The wind's been blowing up my skirt" she said before putting her hand on his arm and pulling him, instead of the male leading the lady.

"Ca..Cagalli" he stammered, always caught off-guard by her unladylike behavior.

"Evening, sir. Do you have reserva-" the well-dressed maître d' stopped upon noticing the female beside him.

"Table for two under the name Alex Dino, please" he quickly interjected to prevent any complications.

"Ri, right this way, sir" the waiter recovered himself from gazing at the Representative, truly attractive in a dress.

"See? I don't like going out in this get-up" Cagalli whispered.

"I know, I know. You want only me to look at you" Athrun said.

"There's something really wrong with you. Your speech isn't like this usually. Are you really okay?" she grabbed his arm with both hands.

"Eh…nothing, nothing…It…it's been a while since Isawsomeonesobeautiful" his cheeks reddened slightly while slurring through the later phrase.

She squeezed his arm tighter before whispering, "Idiot"

The attendant guided them to a private sheltered balcony on the third floor of the building. Upon the waiter's opening of the double Victorian glass doors, the horizon of the coast came into view while stars glittered overhead on the night sky. A solitary round table about 60 centimeters in diameter lay in the middle of the veranda. The lighting is provided by the stars above, and the candles on the table. Like a gentleman, Athrun offered her seat first before taking his. After hearing them deliberating their meal choices, the waiter took their orders and left.

"How was your day?" Athrun asked.

"Other than this evening, it was as usual as daily. Signing papers, debating with other representatives, and planning a new budget plan for Morgenroete. Yours? How was the orphanage?"

"Reverend Malchio, Lacus and the children are well when I stopped by. Other than that, the discussion about allowing ORB to use the Giga-Float mass driver during emergencies went very well. Both parties reached a mutual agreement"

"One of the few upsides of the week…By the way, you haven't explained the occasion yet"

As if on cue, a 4-person group of musicians entered the terrace and took their place to the right of the doors, making them face Cagalli and Athrun's back.

"May I have this honor?" Athrun asked as a slow instrumental began playing.

She is initially reluctant but was drawn in by his smile and by the familiarity of the song: the same one they first did a slow dancing to. The male guided her to the other end of the balcony and held her close at the waist. She wrapped her arms around his neck before they began motions as by the music. Athrun placed his forehead down to the top-front of her head and closed his eyes.

"You are being overly romantic tonight. What's going on?" she whispered as she laid her head to the side on his chest.

However, her answer wasn't words, but a set of eye-catching glowing words on the sea waters. Those words were a result of organizing buoys in perfect locations. The yellowish neon lights of the buoys were then activated simultaneously by a nearby boat carrying a compact battery generator. 'Happy Birthday, Cagalli'

Upon discerning the words, she jerked up, smacking Athrun's nose against the top of her head, and causing him to say "Ow!" With that mishap, the song ended abruptly, adding to the awkwardness.

"I'm okay" he assured while rubbing his impacted facial protrusion.

"Sorry" she embarrassedly said before holding his face, looking at him, and contacting her lips to his as a sign of appreciation.

With that recovery, the instrumental team resumed their song with smiles on their faces at the sweet scene. The entrance of the food then prompted the two to return to their seats. The meal time proceeded wordless. Only the melody prevented silence from lording over the time. As for dessert, a birthday cake was presented. It wasn't extravagant, just an ordinary cherry vanilla layered cake with 18 candle sticks mounted on top of the icing.

"Make a wish" Athrun said.

She did as he advised and closed her eyes in silence for a moment before blowing the candles out. The musicians had not been playing anything since the cake was placed on the table, but once she extinguished the 18 tiny flames, the group burst into a congratulatory applause.

"This has been one of the few wonderful evenings in my life. Thank you" She said.

Athrun gestured for the group to grant himself and his date some private time, before walking up to Cagalli's side with his right hand on his pocket and touching a small cube-shaped object. He dropped to one knee and held her right hand with his left while looking deep into her eyes.

"Cagalli…uh…this…I…would" he stumbled on his own words.

The coloration of his cheeks seemed to be more evident as seconds passed. She too felt heat traveling up her face. He was about to draw his right hand and present her the box when someone with purple hair barged into the veranda.

"Cagalli! There you are! I've been looking for you. I just found out that today is your birthday. Happy Birthday!" he blurted out without first accessing the situation.

Athrun quickly got up while muttering, "Nice timing, Jona"

"Oh, Alex. What are you doing here?" the date-crasher asked, making Athrun and Cagalli wonder at how thick his skull is.

* * *

Being without a weapon to defend himself is enough to leave Heval paranoid, let alone being surrounded by anti-coordinators and the maester of Blue Cosmos, Djibril. Probably the only thing keeping him alive is a disk containing the information which caught Djibril's liking.

"I was surprised the person I will be coming face to face with is so young. Then again, you coordinators are super humans, right?" he commented the moment Heval entered into the living room of a private estate on the outskirts of the capital of Honiara. "Please take a seat, so we can get this going"

Heval did as 'instructed' and took the sofa across the lipstick-wearing man. A glass table separated them. The room was about 400 square meters with 3 large Regency-style, curtain covered, double window doors facing the north. A 5 seat sofa set surrounding the mentioned glass table was set in the middle of the room. A fireplace lay on the east wall. The remaining white-painted walls were decorated by pieces of fine paintings. The flooring of the room, except for the carpeted sofa area, was tiled with white marbles. The only door out on the east wall is guarded by two men. In addition, the estate is swarming with bodyguards and two-man teams were assigned patrols on the perimeter of the building.

With that observation during his travel from the airfield, and the trust that his partner is out there looking out for him, Heval began the most dangerous part of his mission. Since the correspondence with Djibril's group a few weeks ago had laid out the procedure of the trading, words were not needed as both men entered their disks into each respective laptop and entered the password for the intel they have expressed interest to. With the pressing of 'Enter' button on the keyboards, both men closed the lids of the notebooks and push them forward to one another. The whole time, Djibril displayed a slight grin while Heval kept his face straight. Outside, the sun was setting.

The windows he saw on the computer Heval handed opened Djibril's eyes wide and his grin turned slightly curlier. The same thing, except the grin, happened to the coordinator. In front of him is the blueprint and specifications of a mobile armor with the designation code '**G**ressorial **F**ortress **A**rmament **S**trategic – E**X**perimental' and the operating system '**G**igantic **U**nilateral **N**umerous **D**ominating **Am**munition **Fortress**'.

"Hahaha…when you implied that this is a good deal, I was very intrigued. So this is what you mean" Djibril started. "The 'Deuterion Beam Energy Transfer System' operation system, three new prototype suits specs, LHM-BB01 specs, and the most interesting one, Operation Break The World? Durandal didn't pull any stops, did he?"

"It is in his interest for PLANTs and LOGOS to be in good terms. I presume you are satisfied with the status of this transaction?" Heval asked.

"I could say I do. But," he threw the dreaded negation, "why is someone as professional as you working for the likes of a traitor. Didn't he tell you that he was a LOGOS too?"

Heval kept his surprise suppressed but the reaction within the first second wasn't left unnoticed by the Blue Cosmos leader. At this time, Djibril's henchman entered the room and recovered the laptop in his boss' hands before exiting.

"I am sure that you were told LOGOS wants nothing but fighting, correct? Isn't it hypocritical for him to appear as a peace-loving PLANT Supreme Council Chairman, while his past paints him as a war proponent?"

"People learn from mistakes in the past. I believe in the chairman that his actions, even this one, will bring about true peace"

"Is that your true belief, or a result of subconscious indoctrination?" he asked to which Heval kept silent. "There's no winning you to my side, then? Very well, if you would excuse me. Nature's call"

The silver haired man walked past the two door guards and whispered a brief command to them. The two then drew their guns and approached Heval from behind. Outside, his partner was distracted by the wearing off of his conditioning and was therefore forced to inject himself to stay on top of the situation.

"Man, I hate it when these things happen" Heval said. "Come on, Kira. Anytime now"

More men entered the room to fill the post left open so as to ensure no escape is possible. As the same time as two guns were pointing at him, two holes appeared on the glass doors, produced by two bullets that punctured through the window and the linen before striking the men squarely on the forehead almost in rapid succession. With that radical change of events, the guards in the room grabbed their sidearms. Heval responded quicker by grabbing the guns from the falling dead bodies. He then began filling the room with lead as long as the weapons' magazines could. But, with his trigger happy fingers going auto-full-burst mode, he was done within four seconds. When more men crowded into the room, his death was stalled for a couple seconds as Kira's sniper shots silenced more tangos. However, the support ceased when the six bullets magazine was exhausted.

Nevertheless, the sniper wasn't alone. As he was rushing to reload under the cover of the forest bushes surrounding the estate, the engine noise of an invisible aircraft boomed overhead. The low altitude flying of the Mirage Colloid-equipped fighter craft blew the trees and grass violently as well as shook the estate. With the noise and the surprise, the dropping of a bunker buster bomb on the south driveway side of the building went unnoticed until it was too late. The buried explosive regurgitated its deadly composition, tearing a sizable hole on the soil, melting several foundational steel columns and shattering windows.

"Aurig here. Herfst, begin next phase" transmitted a male voice who referred to Kira by codename. "I will extract Ertel"

Through the scope, he noticed one black-haired bodyguard hijacking a light armored vehicle and drove it to under the three glass doors of the room Heval (Ertel) was before tossing upwards a flashing green light, which is an 'approach this point' signal of FAITH. The gray-hair leaped out of the second storey window and onto the open turret of the Humvee-type vehicle. Heval popped back out of the turret and began volleys of suppressing fire using the attached KPVT-62 heavy machinegun, Aurig accelerated off and away from the hectic situation of the estate. On the way, though, the driver ran over several straggling guards recovering from the explosion. The treaded bodies fled like speed bumps to the car's occupants.

As Kira was getting ready to begin retreat, however, the sound of a breaking twig to his rear alerted him to another presence. He swung around just in time to parry a claw-type weapon from slicing his flesh to pieces.

"Look what I found here, a mousie" the man wielding the weapon growled.

A quick observation revealed the man to be of skinny frame, lazy eyes, and disgustingly long tongue like a snake. That tongue is currently licking part of Kira's hand holding the rifle. The friction between the rifle body and the two 4-prongs claws generated sparks as both sides attempted to gain a more advantageous position but to no avail. The sound of approaching footsteps reduced Kira's options. With only a knife as a short range weapon, the sniper is in a bad predicament. However, after realizing the location of shell ejector of his rifle, he pulled the trigger and fired one off to nowhere. The used shell struck the face of the man and opened a window of opportunity. He wrestled the long rifle off the hooking of the claws and spun the gun vertically while drawing his knife. With the rifle muzzle now pointing straight point blank on the claw man's face, Kira threw his dagger into the shadow behind the leaf branches, striking an enemy in the forehead. Then, he clicked on the trigger, sending a forceful load of large caliber anti-armor bullet into the organic target directly ahead. Brain matter and blood splattered all over the area, including onto the sniper. He ignored the more disturbing mess on his clothes and proceeded to wipe his licked hand on a clean fabric part of the now headless corpse.

"Fleur, coming in" transmitted a female voice this time before the support aircraft made another pass.

Just as he sped off in a motorbike, another bunker buster struck the building squarely and demolished it for good. The four FAITHs' planned escape plan will be initiated by their meeting at a remote location within the forests of Guadalcanal. There, disguised commercial VTOL aircrafts will provide the means to get off the island. Of course, to prevent all of them from being taken out at once and so as to confuse any pursuers, they will spread out with distinctly deviating destinations: Sentosa Island of Singapore, Pearl Harbor of Hawaii, and Carpentaria of Australia. Since Fleur's plane is armed and stealth, she will provide cover for Heval, the bearer of the disk.

Although Aurig had an early headstart, Kira's two wheeled transportation is more versatile in the rugged terrain of the island. He sped down a 70 degrees angle of depression slope, almost being trashed by the speeding armored car at the base of that slope. Wasting no time, each of the males boarded their assigned planes and branched off in separate directions.

"See you around, guys" said Heval.

"Be careful, Aurig" whispered Fleur to which the addressed responded in kind.

"Hey, are you guys an item?" Heval asked a question which is obviously out of place.

"Another word, and I'll shoot" said the only female out of the four.

"Right, right….Zip…I got it"

The rest of their flight was uneventful. There weren't any pursuers. However, that wasn't the case with one plane. When the pilot thought he was home free after about 1500 miles of humdrum flight that brought him in the vicinity of Marshall Islands, a sudden beep originating from somewhere in his plane threw a curve ball at that false sense of tranquility. He wheeled his head around to finally notice a tiny timer on the navigation panels to the rear of his seat. When he first saw it, it was displaying the current time. But, the problem now is that the timer is at 00:00. No words could express the shock when his plane was torn apart by a large explosion in the cargo bay.

* * *

"Hey, Tori!" called a little boy playing with the green, Athrun-made robotic bird when it suddenly flew out through the open lodge window and into the night sea breeze.

"I won't accept it, I won't accept it!" cried a pink, Athrun-made robotic ball as in bounced in Birdy's direction, but was hindered when a pair of pale, fair hands caught it.

"Don't go out too far" the owner of the hands said in a gentle female voice towards a group of children who just ran out after the robotic bird.

She walked towards the porch so as to keep the kids in sight. Birdy reached the edge of the beach and circled around a specific point. When the kids caught up to it, they abruptly ran back to the lodge screaming in fright before taking cover behind the female. With that anomaly, and the mechanical ball in her hands spouting oddities, she decided to investigate the cause of the children's scare. Some braver brats followed her while gripping onto her skirt while the more timid ones remained on the porch with a blind reverend.

As she approached, Birdy is still circling the same area. With each step, an outline of a person became clearer. He was lying prone with the kinetic energy of the waves moving the otherwise motionless body. A gaping wound to the head was the first evident characteristics of the person.

Knowing that salt water will do more harm than good to open lacerations, she pulled him back a short distance towards a more dry area before time stopped for her when she turned him over.

"Kira…?"

* * *

A/N: Mucho thanks for the three precious reviews. I wasn't expecting more than one, so hoch appreciated. How was this chapter? 


	3. Opening Act

A/N: Since it has been a while, just to recap, Herfst is Kira's codename, and Ertel is Heval's.

Disclaimer: I don't own or don't want to own Gundam Seed.

* * *

"Excellent job, agents. The data has been safely transferred. The Chairman will be very pleased" said a substitute ZAFT white-coat commander abroad the bridge of a Vozgulov-class submarine Krutz positioned a distance off the coast of the Gibraltar base. 

"What about Herfst? He is long past overdue" asked Heval.

"I was instructed to go about that matter right now" paused the commander. "As by the Code of Military Conduct, section 14, clause 3, procedure 501, FAITH members Ertel, Aurig, Fleur have been found guilty by the ZAFT martial court in the charges of treason, espionage and terrorism. Any and all collaborators on this ship are being dealt with. You are to be detained and summarily executed along with them…Escort them to the launchers!"

"What? What kind of charge is that? We have not even attended a hearing and you have no authority over us!" Heval protested before he was detained by three fully armed soldiers.

"The Chairman has"

"…Right, so this is why Kira's missing. That and with the increased guard presence, missing crew members, and a substitute commander?"

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Raul Kessel (Aurig) taunted.

"Yes, you should be feeling the withdrawal of your conditioning about this time." replied the commander, hitting home on the fact that Heval beginning to feel his muscles twitching. Besides, there is no escape in this water coffin. We are 800 meters below sea level, and there are no mobile suits."

"True…" Raul said out as a small detonator slid down the right leg of his pants. "I am sure you haven't overlooked our specialties and field experience, right? And also, my trip to the bathroom earlier."

Yana Morelenbaum (Fleur) noticed his remark and slightly shifted her position.

"Stop him!" ordered the commander.

The detonator, by this time already on the ground, received a stomp to its button, resulting in a series of vibrations throughout the ship. The emergency alarm blared and the red alert lights came on. The would-be detainees wrestled themselves away from the grips of the off-balance soldiers. Raul and Heval each disarmed two of the three soldiers around them before discharging the lethal munitions into anything breathing except for the three FAITHs, taking extra effort to avoid damaging the control consoles of the bridge. Looking at the rate at which 13 bodies fell, it is a wonder none of the wheezing bullets hit the three detainees.

"So you think you can kill us in my home ship, huh?" Raul said, riddling the corpses with rifle bullets until the magazine was exhausted.

When the gunfire ceased, eerie reverberations of metal could be heard clearly throughout the ship.

"That is not good" commented Heval. "You overkilled with bombs"

"Yana, emergency surface! All ballast blow!" the explosive expert ordered.

With that, she stepped over the bloodied corpses and spilled brain matter around her, and proceeded to the CIC desk.

"Ballast tanks emptied. Sections 22-57, launchers, conditioning room and docking bays are flooding. Closing bulkheads. Starboard engines inoperable. Outer hull integrity breached. 2 minutes until acceptable pressure depth"

"Here, you will need this" Raul said, handing Heval a reserve PP stashed inside the handle of the periscope. "I have instructed the crew to the dining compartment. They should be safe there. If we survive the first minute, then we should be home free. If not-"

"-we get crushed" finished Yana.

Being finally face-to-face, Heval observed that Raul Kessel seemed to be of Middle Eastern descent due to his accent, built and face, as well as common brown eyes and messy black hair. Yana Morelenbaum, a Eurasian, on the other hand, is of stark contrast to what he expected an agent like himself to be. Her figure was unremarkable. Standing at only about 160 centimeters, 15 centimeters shorter that Raul, she came out as rather fragile. Perhaps she had other abilities to compensate for this. If not, she wouldn't be an agent. She had dark blue a-little-bit-below-shoulder length hair tied up in a pony tail. Adding to that eye catching hair color, she had black eyes behind a high-rim black glasses, all encased in a pretty face. Since Heval, and the other three FAITHs were trained to derive conclusions based on facial expressions and emotions, he could vaguely tell through the way Yana looks at Raul that she has a dear someone.

"Aurig," called Heval, "how did you know?"

"Just a gut feeling, and those feelings came almost always true."

"Then, why didn't you warn Kira then?" Heval said, grabbing Raul's collar.

"It's funny, you know? We were trained to always follow orders and never question Durandal" he said, silencing Heval. "Most of our missions always involved different forms of underhanded tactics. I would have never guessed I had to betray one of my associates."

"Durandal ordered you to rig Kira's plane…" the gray-haired agent breathed

"Part of the original crew is still onboard. They were sentenced to death and would gladly collaborate with us to survive. With this damage to the ship and only a percentage of engines working, there's no hope for escape by ourselves" said Raul. "Yan, send out distress signal. Make as if we have suffered internal malfunction and unable to resurface. Since our identity should be of the utmost secrecy, Durandal won't have risked his position to reveal the truth of the situation to anyone outside his most trusted circle. We will draw any rescue parties in and hijack their vessel"

"Maybe it's better to genuinely be rescued. This could be just a misunderstanding. Durandal would never-" said Heval.

"We have no difference in age, but I hope you are not as gullible as those words you just said" Raul debated. "Just what do you think we have been doing these past few years? Deception. Murder. Manipulation. Betrayal. We have become good at those that we think we are invincible from them. And who trained us to be specialists in that? And this conditioning…Did you not suspect that the conditioning influences our memories? Did you ever wake up having those empty blots in your mind? Blots adding to the big empty ones of our past? We did, but for what purpose? Experiments? For testing if such methods work to coordinators as well as to naturals!? We are just dispensable pawns in this twisted background chess game. No more, even if he decides we are not longer needed, her life nor mine are his to take"

"Raul…" Yana said.

"Since when did you get such thought?" asked Heval.

"By each mission. The more we performed them, the more we dug ourselves deeper and I realized that the only way out is death. So once our role is done, will death be waiting? Well, Herfst's death is the clearest answer"

"Hahahaha…I can't believe it. What a demented day…"

"The Vozgulov-class Clissare is hailing our call" the blue-haired female reported.

"Are you with me, Heval?"

"I don't think I have a choice, do I?

* * *

Opening Act

* * *

"Lacus!" a blonde haired woman barged through a wooden door. "How is he?" 

"Stabilized. Thanks to your sending the surgeon quickly. Would you like to have some breakfast?" she asked, smiling while standing in front of the stove.

"Lacus!" this time a blue-haired man barged through the door after the blonde. "How is he?"

"Shhh, you are going to wake the kids. So, breakfast? Omelette? Pancake? Anything?"

"Are you alright?" Cagalli asked, seeing that Lacus is somehow trying to avoid discussing the person she found.

Predicting that he should leave the two females alone, Athrun walked out of the kitchen and proceeded down the corridor into the innermost area of the orphanage. There's an empty room with a single window here overlooking a small lake in the clearing of the woods. He silently entered and after closing the door behind him, walked up to the bedridden victim. Various life support and monitoring devices, such as IV, EEG, ECG, were connected to the patient. He is covered in bandages all over his body, primarily in the upper head, arms and legs. The broken left arm and right leg were cast so as to prevent further damage. Due to this observation, Athrun could conclude that the extremities were used as a shield. But from what? He, as a former professional soldier had never sustained such injuries, even after the fight with the person which resembles this one he is currently looking at. But despite this, his condition is stable with a 78/ 118 average heart beat and little brain activity.

Athrun was about to leave the room when he noticed a familiar piece of metallic gray cloth sticking out of the bottom of a cabinet at the corner of the room. He opened the said cabinet in an attempt to tuck the cloth back, but froze after recognizing the fabric. In addition, a side arm lay on the second shelf of the three shelf cabinet.

"ERIC. Explosive Radiation Immediate Countermeasure. They were still researching this when I was still…Springfield XD-73T. Standard issue ZAFT Special Forces. 2 rounds missing from magazine, 1 in chamber. What did you shoot? What have you done? What happened to you?" he said to himself. "…Maybe this is why Lacus refused to send you to a hospital"

"Athrun" Cagalli whispered, having been watching her companion at the doorstep.

"Cagalli, I would like to have a search party assembled. One that is unidentifiable as Orb forces. this equipment is not of civilian use, especially this one" he said, holding the crimson tainted grey fabric, "designed as a flexible shield for proximity explosions using mirage colloid technology. EAF used it for energy deflection by their Geschmeidig Panzer. This one is geared towards physical impacts. The first time I saw this equipment was in a demonstration. It had a near transparent color but after considerable C4 detonations, it turned a darker shade and became unusable."

"Mirage colloid is banned by the Junius Treaty. ZAFT would never openly use that like this"

"That is why we need to investigate this. Whatever was left behind cannot fall into the wrong hands. The fact that this cloth is here means a certain event just took place or is currently taking place."

"Go ahead, but be mindful of our appointment to Armory One"

"How was Lacus?" Athrun said as he was about to leave the room.

"His coming back into our lives and in such manner clearly shook her. She needs time to take this in"

* * *

"The vertical linear launchers cannot be utilized at this depth. Since the all of the docking bays are flooded already flooded, they have chosen to cut through the armor plating of the launchers and send a shuttle to extract us" Yana said. 

"This will be delicate. If the timing is wrong, we will get blown out of the water" Raul warned. "They will not be checking for identity yet in this kind of emergency, so we will take action once inside the Clissare. Follow my instructions and we will get out safely"

"Are you there?" came a transmission over the radio. "The shuttle is in place. You can open the bulkhead now"

Yana did as prompted. Since the other side of the doors is completely submerged, the only safe way for rescue is this. The three agents and thirty four other survivors followed the plan and waited until the shuttle is in landing approach into the hangar of the Clissare. Since each of them had raided the armory within Krutz and armed themselves with concealable weapons such as pistols, the shuttle jack went smoothly and discreetly.

"These two guys are black-haired. Any volunteers?" asked Heval, kneeling over the dead soldiers and looking at the survivors.

A couple helmeted soldiers emerged from the shuttle and marched down the hatch ramp towards a junior officer standing a few paces off the shuttle. Four more guards replaced the two and took position outside the hatch of the shuttle. One of the soldiers making his way to the commander made quick, subtle observations of the hangar, taking note of the positions of the mobile suits, guards, as well as mechanics. As far as his vision could allow without revealing his identity, there are 4 ZnOs, 10 armed guards, and more that a dozen other personnel in total.

"Report" said the officer.

"There are 27 personnel just like the report. 19 are non-military, 5 are stationed soldiers, and 3 FAITH members"

"Three? All in the same place? The commander needs to know this"

"Yes, and don't worry. I'll tell him" said the same reporting soldier, swinging his rifle forward towards the officer.

He was spared the opportunity to object the surprise when a burst splattered brain matter and bone fragments to the rear of his head. With this cue, three flash bangs rolled out of the ramp of the hangar, stunning the 4 guards who are already distracted by the treacherous turn of events. Heval leaped out and sunk 4 shells in the cerebral cortex of his victims. The other shuttle passengers followed and began contributing to the skirmish, taking priority on the pilots attempting to remount their suits.

"Ertel, Fleur, follow me. The rest of you split up and secure the armory, the vertical linear launcher and those mobile suits!" said Raul.

However, while giving those orders, he placed his back towards the entrance to the hangar bay, resulting in his ignorance to a soldier had just emerged from the corridor leading to that entrance. The only thing he could see were the triggers of a pair of XD-73 handguns pointing at him being clicked. He jerked for an instant, taken off-guard by the seemingly treacherous act by Heval. At the next moment, he felt sharp gusts of air cutting both the top of his ears and screeching through the sides of his helmet.

"Darn, these are inaccurate. No silencer hardpoint either. I really need my own guns" said Heval at the same time as the soldier behind Raul slumped dead.

"Handgun expert indeed. Phew, thought I was dead" Raul thanked him.

With that, the three proceeded forward, past Heval's most recent target, and onto the most direct route to the bridge. So as not to engage in unnecessary confrontations, they used Heval's white coat attire and Yana's red to get past uninformed personnel.

"I'm sure you have questions about our future actions-" started Raul, in a soft voice, before he opened the doors to a living compartment and seeing several resting crew.

"We have a situation in the hangar bay. Electrical malfunction. PA system is down. Maintain position until further orders" ordered Heval to which the crew saluted.

"-remember I told you about our memories being controlled?" continued Raul, resuming their way. "Once, Krutz's conditioning systems malfunctioned for 42 hours when Yana and I were scheduled a few minutes before than. Of course, that delay caused a measure of discomfort for us, but in return, she recollected events of her past, not just words told by Durandal. A real memory figment"

"We started researching about my name and about those events in my mind" said Yana behind them both as they rounded a corner.

"Her family is one of the founders of the colony on Mars and the current head of state" continued Raul.

"Morelenbaum…" Heval filled in.

"When I suspected our boss was going to get rid of us, I planned on getting her back home"

"How did you become an agent?"

"It seemed I was abducted. I don't know by whom and for what reason. It is very unlikely to be a simple ransom when the kidnappers took the trouble to go to Mars. What I recalled was incomplete. One thing led to another and I was somehow found by a ZAFT rescue team in South America and ended up here" Yana said.

"It is dubious that Durandal is ignorant of her identity. That's why my trust began to wane. But until now, the Morelenbaums" –bam- "are still looking for her" Raul resumed, taking down a bridge guard.

-bam-bam-"Why are you telling me this?" Heval asked again, tackling another soldier into the wall and filling his victim's mouth with lead.

"We feel we could trust you, and we need your help. So how about it? Want to experience life in Mars?"

"Heh, sounds fun"

"Now that I know I have your assistance, shall we?" Raul led as he placed C4 charges on the edges of the sealed bridge shutters. "Stay behind me, Yana."

The three took cover around the corner leading to the bridge. The explosives expert then shielded the Mars nobility against the wall before clicking on the detonator. While the explosion rocked the vicinity and blew the shutter, Heval reloaded his guns before rounding the corner after the flames dissipated. Gunfire accompanied the blaring alarm klaxons throughout the submarine and nozzle flashes decorated the bridge like out-of-whack disco lights.

* * *

"What do you mean they are missing?" Durandal said. 

"Their ID access tracers are not responding. The FAITH logon system has locked them out as a result. This happens only when the tracers are destroyed" said a technician in charge of the secure network on the other side of the visual transmission screen.

"Yes, I know that. What happened to them?"

"A Class SS data was transmitted directly to you using Ertel's access code. Approximately 2 hours before that, Herfst's tracer disappeared. Then 9 hours later, Aurig, Ertel and Fleur were simultaneously lost. Based on the mission plan, all 4 should have returned to the Krutz off the coast of Gibraltar. The ship requested permission for a voyage at 0300 hrs GMT. It maintained position at the entrance of the Straits 60 kilometers from the base before it submerged out of sonar range after receiving 2 civilian planes with clearance from Singapore and Carpentaria"

"Just two? What about the one bound for Pearl Harbor?"

"Unknown. Your orders?"

"Investigate this matter fully. Get places, names, times. Do this discreetly" the chairman said before cutting off the transmission. "Whoever you are, what are you planning to do? Why at this point?"

* * *

Five days have passed since Herfst washed up the beach of Father Malchio's orphanage. Athrun's search turned up nothing because of ocean currents and the fact that the vehicle of transport had been ripped apart by a powerful explosion. Nevertheless, several locals did witness a flash in the sky followed immediately by a loud bang. This account plus the items Athrun found support the theory that the plane Kira was on exploded. Bullets were discharged possibly through the window of the cockpit to allow an exit. ERIC was then used to a shield, but because the fabric only guards against explosions, shrapnel shreds through and struck the victim before he crashed onto the sea. 

It is truly hard to be strong when the people one loves are taken in succession. Lacus, who thought she had recovered from the shock of the loss of loved ones in the last war, her father and then the pilot of Freedom, felt how powerless she was as a result of the latter's return: she didn't have the courage to even enter his room…until now, to tidy that very room. The night was very quiet. All the children had fallen asleep. The pond in line-of-sight from the room's only window is radiantly reflecting the full moon's glow. The only sound that can be heard, other than Lacus' putting up a curtain over the window, is routine beeps of the life support and monitoring devices.

"La..cus…" came a very soft voice at the same time the EEC reading showed a single sudden spike before returning flat.

Like every reflexive response, she gasped and dropped the fabric about to be latched onto curtain hangers. Her turning around and the lunar light from both the sky and the pond made her figure glow in the bluish-white light. At the other end, a pair of half-open, empty purple eyes is witnessing this scene. There was silence for a period of time until the female took the initiative.

"Kira?" she asked.

There was no response. The male remained motionless with his head tilted to the right towards her. She approached, going right next to the bed. His vision, because of remaining motionless, is still towards the window and just slightly off the person next to his bed.

"_The operation was successful. However, I found that his brain waves are extremely irregular. Nevertheless, this and the kind of damage he took to the head, plus the exposure to salt water and at low temperatures, will not be without ramifications. I have never seen anyone take so much punishment. To be honest, I'm truly surprised he is even alive. Several major blood vessels have been cut, resulting in failure of several organs. But fortunately, those organs were successfully resuscitated. The one thing I am pessimistic about is that he will be in comatose state for very long time. Even if he does regain consciousness, his mind will most probably lose the ability for conscious activity like motor functions, memorization and thinking. As long as there's life support, he will survive. Otherwise… The lab results will most likely support my diagnosis. The only advice I could give you is try to expose him to anything significant in his life. I'm sorry" _Lacus remembered the surgeon's words.

The lack of behavior the patient is currently exhibiting proved those words. Though he looked as if he had gained consciousness, he is in fact brain dead. The EEC graph showed a flat line whereas a healthy human's should be a spiky graph. Concluding the word she heard was just her imagination, an imagination simply as a result of her desire, she sat down next to him and touched his left cheek. After her eyes drifted away from him and onto a ring on a stand next to the bed, she suddenly hugged him, wrapping her arms gently around the top of his head, and letting her tears flow freely. The moonlight futilely tried to comfort her by making those beads of water sparkle.

* * *

A/N: Very sorry for the long delay. Graduation, application for college, work, etc. I got admission from Nanyang, woohoo! Erhm..anyway for compensation, I decided to submit two chapters. Any reviews to spare? 


	4. Grand Prologue

Who defines the strength of something? What kind of power is too strong? Something that can take a single life? Or decimate an entire civilization? Isn't deterrence better than open war? All these questions depend on perspective. For a backwater villager, owning a tractor is enough power. For a military commander, possessing silos full of nuclear ICBMs is power.

* * *

Grand Prologue

* * *

The light purple rays of dawn. Warm tropical ocean wind. Grayish sands reflecting the sunrise. Shuffling wave. These describe that beach on that day where two figures can be seen moving a few paces away the water line of the crashing waves. One of them is slowly pushing the other on a scale-system equipped wheelchair. 

"Life here is quiet, serene…just peaceful." Lacus said, her hair and light blue dress waving in the winds. "On that day, I felt really lost. I didn't know where to go. There was destruction everywhere, in that coldness of space. My homeland branded me a traitor. Even you-…Father Malchio offered me refuge here, away from the worries of life. The longer I stayed, the more I felt at home. My surroundings are gentle. And I met mother, your mother, someone I longed for a long time. She is really kind, a mother I lost a long time ago. You know, it was then I truly realize that there are many things that can bring people together, even sadness, the sadness of losing you. It was harder for her to hear about you than it is to me."

The person being talked to had no response. His body slumped slightly to the left, his head hung to the front and his half open eyes stared lifelessly onto the sands below his feet. However, Lacus believes that he can hear her words.

"But now you are back" she continued, stopping her trek and hugging him from the back and whispering into his ear. "Everything is good. A peaceful place, a loving mother, children to take care for…I don't need anything else."

* * *

Three divers emerged from the ocean waves and pulled themselves up against the recoiling waves and onto the desolate, rocky area of a North African beach. They dragged their flipper-wearing feet against the sands before reaching an area under an outcropping on the cliff face facing the beach, and thereafter taking off their scuba equipment, which consists of the wet suit, rebreather respiration system, mask, and attached weapons. Under the wet suit, only undergarments provide the necessary covering for any private organs. 

"Damn wind chill factor and Einstein's relativity theory. The sun's blazing, the sea water's cold and now I'm shivering. I wished those ZnO's got that handy dandy Mirage Colloid on em. We wouldn't have to swim all the way here" said Heval.

"No wonder you are excellent in negotiations. You talk a lot" commented Yana.

"Ouch, cold"

"Right, come on. Get your clothes on. We need to mix in with the crowd" Raul said, opening his bag and taking out a set of simple brownish Arabic-Berber attire.

"You haven't told me what we are doing in Tripoli" Heval kept the conversation going while pulling his grayish set of pants up.

"We made a business acquaintance during one of our missions here. The development of this major city was hampered due to the last war. Law enforcement is either lax or corrupt. This is why black markets are so dominant in these parts. Since we ousted the leader the last time, this acquaintance's second-rate dealings took off. He steals from the wealthy, such as the military, and sells the goods cheap. Kind of a modern day Robin Hood, but in the surface he appears to be a simple fisherman. So in thanks, he promised us assistance. You name it, he should have it, information, hardware, whether cheap and clunky or high-class and quality"

"Does his sell to everyone, even terrorists?" Heval suggested, having finished dressing and currently arming and hiding his semi-machine gun and two pistols under his robe.

"He prefers to call them resistance forces" he said, peeking to the west behind a large rock and noticing a man walking in their direction. "…Right, that's one of his henchmen coming"

The above-mentioned man then gave each of them an African Union ID card before leading them into a jeep parked on the side of the road and driving off west in the direction of the port in the north side of the former Libyan-government capital of Tripoli.

"By the way, you were so kind to leave the submarine to those guys" Heval continued, breaking the silence during the jeep ride.

"I wanted to test their loyalty. All of them pledged cooperation, but betrayal is cheap to do and expensive to mend" he said, briefly showing the other two a long range remote detonator.

* * *

"The Pacific Region search parties reported negative on any findings along Herfst's predicted route. Local reports within suspected sectors are conflicting and unreliable. However, we managed to find submarine remains possibly the Krutz approximately 70 kilometers from Gibraltar within the Mediterranean Sea. Probable cause of sinking is hull damage due to water pressure. Furthermore, submarine Clissare, which is patrolling the area, was reported missing 1 day ago at 0900 GMT. We are currently trailing that lead" transmitted the FAITH network technician on the monitor a laptop. 

"Has there been any suspicious activity in Port Diocvia?" asked the ZAFT chairman.

"No, no indication at all. Should I increase security?"

"Increased attention is undesirable…I would like Freedom moved to Maius 8. It should not fall into the wrong hand-" he stopped upon hearing knocks on the door of his office in the ZAFT military colony Armory One. "Enter"

"The ORB representative has arrived in the colony, sir. She is on her way" informed a soldier.

"Good, escort her here" he ordered and waited until the soldier left. "Carry out the transport quickly. It may yet serve as excellent target and bait. If the current series of events aren't coincidences, there may be a theft attempt. You know what to do"

"Yes, sir" the technician said before logging out.

"Now then, what piece will you move next?" he asked himself, visualizing a chess match.

* * *

"This mission consists of three main objectives" said EAF Colonel Neo Roanoke in his grayish-black uniform and grey mask instead of the tourist attire he wore in Thailand. "We successfully completed the first one and secured the RGX-01, 02, and 03. The second is to survey a newly designed battleship, gauge her abilities and destroy if possible. We did and for the past 22 hours, she had been chasing us and repelling our attacks ever since. In the debris belt and that asteroid region…They did have excellent pilots didn't they?...Nevertheless, being in this region of space brings us to the next objective: scouting the sector of any anomaly." 

"What kind of scouting?" asked Ian Lee, the Girty Lue Executive Officer, looking on a map of the ship's path starting from the L4 sector to near the Earth radar range on the overhead display in front of him.

"Central intelligence predicts something useful to LOGOS's interest would happen here. Get there, sit tight and ready the cameras. That's all they told me"

"This whole mission seemed to be going too smooth to be true. That battleship had been pursuing us and now it ceased any further attempt of recovering their mobile weapons just when we reached this site" Lee pointed out. "It feels like some type of demented planned game"

"Isn't life itself a game? One that doesn't have a save, load, or reset function that is…"

"Colonel, I'm detecting explosions at a nearby sector. Mark 20, Orange 9, Alpha" said a bridge crew.

"Right on cue. Life would be so less complicated when it's like this. Well, shall we?"

* * *

"Okay, now it's hot and dry" complained Heval as he trailed his three companions through the bustling docks marketplace. 

They encountered occasional police patrols during their ride to the port and one during their current walk but these were nothing the counterfeit ID couldn't clear. The three were led into crowds shopping in the roadside stalls and in several warehouses before boarding an old small fishing boat berthed at one of the private piers on the north-western side of the port.

Sensing a shutter clicked when he stepped onto the plank leading to the boat, Heval tensed and threw a quick glance behind him. Upon noticing a photographer taking pictures of the busy scene of the market in general and not specifically the fishing boat, he shook his suspicions off and redirected his attention ahead. Other than an Arab man in his thirties with very thick and bushy moustache and beard sitting at the starboard aft railing of the boat while mending his nets, there were only the three former-agents. Their guide and two other people previously on the boat had left.

"How fares the fishes, Ahmat?" Raul greeted the Arab man.

"You are never late, are you? Good to see you fine, my friend. Praise to Allah" the man referred to as Ahmat said in a British accent, dropping his net and hugging Raul and Yana, before motioning for the three to follow him into the living compartment in the hull of the boat. "Who might this be?"

"Heval, a trusted friend" Raul answered.

Speaking from experience, Heval recognized that dealing with an arms dealer is never sincerely lovey-dovey. However, contrary to his bias, being of the same ethnic background may have a play in Raul's and Ahmat's friendliness. The compartment of the boat is also of stark contrast to what Heval assumed by looking at the exterior. To his right after descending a short ladder is an open cabinet stocked with the most advanced guns, rifles and bazookas in existence. On the wall running perpendicularly next to the open armory are 15 flat-screen monitors each of them simultaneously showing different news reports from around the world and PLANTs. Along the next wall, the one directly opposite the ladder, are 4 laptops on a , and finally on the next wall is a sofa set facing the televisions. In front of it is a wooden desk, and across the desk, another sofa.

"So what can I do for you?" asked Ahmat, sitting on the sofa facing the tellys.

"I need a fast vessel to Mars"

"Fast vessel to Mars…I don't have the resources. But, I may know of a way to get you there"

"How about that prototype Voiture Lumiere engine you got a hold on?"

"Nothing slips by you" the region's black market leader sighed. "If you must know, that DSSD junk is hardly operational. 6 of my engineers were killed due to a test 3 days ago. Unless you can fix it, you can use it. Even then, I have to warn you, with an interplanetary trip like that, you need an appropriate ship chassis to support defensive weapons and sufficient energy to maintain power, like nuclear power…My humble establishment doesn't have that kind of reach yet"

Ahmat's last remark before the pause sparked an idea in Raul and Yana. They looked at Heval who is sitting across them. The grey-hair looked back with confusion until his light bulb went on.

"Are you two thinking what I am thinking?" he asked, referring to something his former partner left behind.

"You are the only one who he shared the MOS code with, right?" said Raul before redirecting his attention to Ahmat. "You were saying about another way?"

"There's one company based in South America that specializes in commercial deep space vehicle design. From what I gathered, since they were founded by some Mars colonist who returned to Earth, they also serve as liaison for all Mars-Earth trading activity. I could-" he stopped abruptly and grabbed the solitary remote on the desk and increased the volume for one monitor. "Listen"

"…of Junius Seven. Despite efforts by ZAFT military forces to break the colony apart, progress has been slow. Citizens are advised to take precautionary measures and listen for instructions from local governments…" came the news report.

"…based on current data, projected impact time would be October 27 1700 hrs GMT. Areas near the equator have a higher probability…" stated another channel.

In succession, an announcement in Arabic blared outside over the PA system informing about the situation and advising people to return to their homes and pay attention to any updates about the matter.

"This chaos might be a divine sign," Ahmat began, "for you to make your move."

"Could you look into this company? We might be able to get a whole ship ready without building one from scratch"

"Anything else?"

"No…" Raul said. "Actually…would you happen to have SLBMs?"

"Apologies, mate. Nuclear's no good. Neutron Jammer…But, I've just acquired a new type: Swallow D4 proximal variant conventional cruise MIRV fresh from the silos of an EAF warehouse. A little tweaking should allow submarine launch"

"Prefect" Raul replied before getting up.

The other three followed suit and Ahmat gave each of them a customary hug before leading them out of the compartment. At this time, Raul slipped the arms dealer a set of coordinates for the shipment of the missiles and fuel. The host led them back out the compartment and down the plank onto the cement grounds of the docks. By this time, due to the announcement earlier, the docks had relatively cleared up, except for several stall owners hurriedly packing up their gears, and ship mates finishing their work.

Ahmat's henchman, the one who chauffeured them earlier, handed Raul the key to the jeep used earlier as the three were about the leave the port.

"Our mandate for every mission was to never leave witnesses behind. That was too friendly of a relationship for business acquaintance. What's the deal?" Heval asked as they got onto the jeep, but this time with the gray haired male driving.

"Man can't live by bread alone. He needs other people. For now, we have a mutual understanding with one another. He trusts me, and I trust him"

"He feels indebted because Ahmat saved me" Yana interjected from the rear seat.

"Ohh, our leader has a soft spot"

"Aside from that, we cannot wait until tomorrow to make our move. If we know Durandal, he would have ordered a transport. However, time delay and preparation to move such an item will buy us time." he began, taking out a PDA and began constructing a mission plan. "Rendezvous with the promised cargo ship will be 3 hours from now. At full speed above water, the Clissare will reach target area by 2100 hrs EET. Following insertion, mission will begin by midnight local time"

"What are you planning to do with the Neutron Jammer Canceler?" the only female in the vehicle asked, making the atmosphere tense.

"…Nothing" he paused before the answer. "What I'm interested more in is Freedom's combat capacity. If Ahmat would return with favorable news about that South American company, we need a safeguard in that war-torn continent"

* * *

"Ertel here. We are in. Moving to objective" Heval said in a ZAFT Special Forces black/grey suit, followed by another 2 soldiers in similar attire. 

So as to facilitate mission effectiveness, the three are wearing camera integrated helmet visors which transmit real time visual data back to the surfaced Clissare. Since the ZAFT base is located in close proximity to a city and therefore guarded, the only feasible way is to enter through the waters of the Black Sea. Infiltration is simple for them due to Heval's experience in the base. Because it is still a relatively small and new base, security isn't as tight as in Gibraltar. And now especially with the falling of Junius Seven, guard duty seemed to be nonexistent. The hangars are right in between of the piers and the runways, making this mission straight forward. However, just when Heval thought everything will be smooth sailing, he paused in his advance around along the side of hangar 43.

"Something's wrong" he breathed out, looking around the corner of the hangar. "It's too smooth…Aurig, anything strange on your side?"

"No sonar contact whatsoever. What do you suspect?" asked Raul abroad the submarine.

"A trap. Durandal should have foreseen this coming. He is not the type to leave things unconfirmed"

"Do you think he already moved it away?"

"No, we noticed an activity on runway 2. A large transport plane is preparing for transport. At least 6 GINN are guarding it. Now, the problem is, there only one chance in this, and both seems to require a gun fight. We won't survive to check out both of them"

"What would you-" Raul stopped abruptly. –PING-

"Sonar contact! 3, 4, 12 blips. Identified as Vosgulov-class ships, all around us. " informed the bridge crew manning the sonar equipment.

"Choose one, Ertel!" Raul shouted to which Heval chose to raid the hangar. "Launchers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 open. Targets: Piers, runway and barracks. Fire! Standby launcher 6"

The submarine's 3 vertical launchers and 4 smaller fighter tubes, which are used as makeshift silos, opened and 5 Swallow conventional warhead MIRVs simultaneously launched out, broke the sea surface and accelerated to the upper limit of the stratosphere before homing in on their targets. Within 33 seconds, the Port of Diocvia glowed in a yellowish-orange hue and suffered artificially-and-explosively-induced tremors.

Amidst the blaring klaxons and burning flames, the three infiltrators dashed around the corner of the hangar they took cover behind and to the touchpad security of the hangar doors. Heval recalled the correct code combination. At this time, an additional rumbling could be felt in the vicinity, followed by flash grenades being lobbed towards them. After releasing a burst from their rifles, the three rushed inside the when the hangar door began to open, however, Heval's two teammates were blindsided from the right by a hail of bullets. If Heval had been slightly slower, he would have met his demise then too. With the flashes of the flash bangs flashing behind him, the survivor dashed toward the object at the back of the hangar.

"Come on, come on" he pleaded while climbing the rear left tier of the truck up to a coded panel, at which he punched in a sequence of numbers before entering the enclosed container. "ye?, yes?...YEAH!! Woohoo!"

He didn't pause to delight in his correct choice to check out the hangar instead of the transport plane laid out on the runway as bait. He yanked his helmet off and punched a button within the interior of the container, shutting and locking the only entrance inside as well as raising the container into a vertical position.

'Enter passcode: ' prompted the OS screen within the cockpit of the mobile suit which survived Jachin Due.

'Will alone, Strength alone will not Suffice. Both are Intertwined. LC' he typed.

Generation

Unsubdued

Nuclear

Drive

Assault

Module

Complex

Series AVIC-T1 Freedom LA-SE3P

System Online

"All this power in one's hands…Kira, why were you given this when you yourself are reluctant to pilot it? ……Heh, why am I shaking?" Heval said to himself, futilely trying to cover his nervousness by gripping the control sticks tightly.

Several explosives impacting the container brought him back to reality. He pushed the Phase Shift button and stepped down on the throttle pedal, igniting the long-dormant thrusters which burned through the bottom of the truck before the overwhelming force broke the mechanical clamps holding the suit, sending it up crashing through the roof of the hangar and into the night sky.

* * *

"Close launchers. Emergency dive! Helmsman, fore down 40 degrees. Put us to 1000 meters depth. Fire ASROC missiles 3 kilometers in the perimeter around us. Set to automatic targeting. Launch 3 of the ZnOs" ordered Raul. "Pilots, assume defensive stance around the ship. Enemy suits will not be able to engage us below 800 meters." 

After the launches, all was silent except for the creaking of metal due to the sub's rapid dive.

"Bogeys sending out mobile suits. IDed as ZnO and GOOhN. 14 and counting"

"Depth: 300 meters…400…550…700…" informed a bridge personnel at the same time as the other one said, "distance till ASROC detection range: 100…50…all missiles have acknowledged enemy"

After a few moments, explosions caused by the launched torpedo variant ASROCs (Anti-Submarine Rocket) were detected. However, none of them struck the submarines. Although some took down a few of the enemy amphibious mobile suits, most were intercepted. After about 12 seconds, smaller blips on the sonar originating from the 12 Vozgulov blips appeared and began homing into Clissare. Countermeasure decoys were launched and deviated all but 2 torpedoes which struck the starboard body and grazed the upper port engine.

"Any contact from Ertel?" Raul asked to which Yana responded negatively.

"980 meters…approaching operational depth limit. Second torpedo wave incoming!"

"Excellent move, Durandal…" the black-hair breathed out, clenching his fist and looking to his right at the person manning the CIC. He approached the station and whispered, "Yana, I want you in the ZnO…please"

"I'm staying here" she whispered back.

The male pulled her up, turned her and looked close into the black eyes before whispering, "I don't know how many times I have to say this. You are my raison d etre. Without you, I'm nothing. You must survive"

"And you must too…I'm not leaving"

"Raul" called one of the bridge crew. "Message from Ertel, reads: Resurface. I'll open the way to the southwest"

Above the sea level, Freedom flew close to the water line with its 'Xiphias' rail cannons extended pointing down into the waters. Despite being a trained test pilot, Heval was barely able to adapt himself to the customization of the advanced suit which was tuned to emphasize speed over power. If it weren't for the automated lock-on AI, he wouldn't have been able to deliver the accuracy need for the Clissare to escape. A close-combat pilot by nature, this current situation puts him at a further disadvantage because only one weapon is effective. It was here also that he noticed the irony about his strength in hand-to-hand combat and in piloting. In person, he prefers guns, but in mobile suits, he specializes in close-combat. His former partner, on the other hand, is of direct opposite of him.

After a few missed shots, he grew exasperated and decided to dive the suit down into the water. A Vozgulov-class fired torpedoes in its defense. Heval spiraled around the attack and closed the distance upon which he drew the left beam saber, contacted the blade side next to the ship's port hull and activating it before thrusting forward to cut the submarine along its horizontal axis. Clissare, by this time already resurfaced, jettisoned its 3 remaining MIRVs, set to detonate on proximity sensor contact, into the waters to its rear so as to discourage any pursuits.

* * *

5 hours after the first reports about the fall of Junius Seven, the whole of the colony structure can be seen falling through the Earth atmosphere. Everyone was instructed to take refuge in anti-nuclear bunkers, or its equivalent structures. The same goes to the occupants of Malchio's orphanage, who are already proceeding to an underground shelter constructed below the chapel grounds. 

On the beach in front of the lodge, a solitary person sat on his hoverchair, his eyes directed towards the burning structure in the sky. In front of him are the remains of a sunken Aegis-class cruiser. He had stayed in this position for a good hour when Lacus brought him out. However, while unattended, his position had changed from being at the lodge's steps to a few meters to the east of the lodge at the water line of the crashing waves.

"Kira, we have to go" Lacus said, failing to notice any difference because of being preoccupied with taking the children to the shelter.

As she was about to move the chair, liquid beads rolling down the male's cheeks caught her attention. Her eyes responsively blinked to make sure it wasn't an illusion. It wasn't. He is indeed crying. She walked around to his front, knelt down in front of him and held his hands. Adding to her surprise, his hands weakly squeezed hers.

"Kira" she whispered.

"…La..cus…" he returned, his watery eyes shifting from the flaming ball in the sky to her. "..sor.ry.. I.m..sorry…Tha..t colony...I.."

"Don't" she hugged him. "Don't say anything else. We have to go"

* * *

A/N: Lacus' assassination without Freedom. Hmmm…(evil thoughts). Thanks to Elda and Nelson for the reviews. Any for this chapter? Das Lebewohl 


End file.
